Some of the top companies on this list may balk at being identified as asset managers. They see the services they offer to their ultra-high-net-worth clients as more akin to those of the wealth management universe. We've included them here because their role is primarily to build and manage their investors' portfolios. You generally won't find CFPs or attorneys on staff to produce financial plans or trust and estate programs for clients; you are more likely to find plenty of CFAs who help build portfolios. Using data gleaned from ADV files on record with the SEC, Registered Rep.'s partner, Meridian-IQ, sought to filter out wealth management RIAs. Firms with no more than 50 employees who work as broker/dealer reps were included in the list since some RIAs are hybrids that offer commission-based services for clients. The list doesn't rank by size of retail clients, but the fact that a company is serving that market segment to some degree suggests that its retail assets under management are significant. After all, nearly every RIA on the list has more than $1 billion in AUM.
*As a percentage of total clients. All data effective May 25, 2011.
Source: Meridian AIQ.
Note: Penton Media, publisher of Registered Rep., is an investor in Meridian.
Top 50 Wealth Manager RIAs
The phrase “wealth management” is used throughout the financial advisory industry; even asset managers like the sound of it. (See the accompanying asset manager RIA list for examples of companies with the phrase “wealth management” in their titles.) But the term properly refers to advisors who offer a broad range of financial services in addition to managing money. These often include financial planning, trust and estate counseling, educational expense planning, and so on. Since the breadth of service can be quite comprehensive, wealth managers typically have greater share of client wallet than their asset-managing brethren. The average AUM of the 50 wealth managers on Registered Rep.'s list stands at nearly $6.5 billion, compared to $2.2 billion AUM among RIAs on the asset manager list. Meridian-IQ, Rep.'s partner in preparing the lists based on ADV form data from the SEC, included firms on the wealth management list that offer financial planning and have a limited number of investment companies as clients. As with the asset manager list, this list doesn't rank by size of retail clients, and it does include RIAs with no more than 50 broker/dealer reps.
*As a percentage of total clients. All data effective May 31, 2011.
Source: Meridian AIQ.
Note: Penton Media, publisher of Registered Rep., is an investor in Meridian.
Registered Rep. is the most trusted digital and print source for the retail investment professional, serving brokers, financial advisors, RIA’s, IBD’s, insurance, financial planners, and financial product companies with award-winning insight coverage of the brokerage, wealth management, fund and financial product industry as well as breaking news, data, rankings, and profiles.
Subscribe today to get the news you need and information you want from our e-newsletters. To preview the current issue click on the newsletter below. Subscribe Today!